Late Night Remedy
I'm back! I couldn't fall asleep last night and I guess it's because I was busy trying to plan this story! Hopefully it's good! This story takes place during the Alien Force timeline, sometime before In Charm's Way and Vendetta, since Gwen hasn't met Kevin's mother yet. Kevin also doesn't know that Gwen is searching for a way to cure him. Also everything written in italic are text messages sent between Gwen and Kevin. Enjoy!
Edited on November 19th 2020 : Nothing has changed plot wise, I just found some grammatical errors that I missed when I initially posted!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 and characters.
Kevin awoke with a start. He could instantly feel that he was covered in sweat and everything felt uncomfortable. He immediately and rather aggressively removed the sheets that were covering his body. He sat up in bed, trying to catch his breath.
Another nightmare. They had been plaguing him for weeks now, ever since Tennyson had hacked the Omnitrix to try and unlock its full power to fight off Vilgax. Since then, he now spent most of his days self-conscious about his appearance and how he had once again become a monster. And now it seemed like his nights were cursed to be the same. No, not the same, worse. In his dreams, he wasn't just a mismatch of different materials, he had somehow turned back into the monster he was when he was a child. He hated it.
Kevin knew he wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep anytime soon. He groaned, getting out of bed. There was no point lying in bed, he had done it countless times before to no avail. The only thing that would work was to distract himself. He had tried before sitting in the living room to watch TV or going in the garage to work on his car. But both times he had already tried that, he had accidentally made too much noise and had woken his mother. He didn't want her to be worried about him. He had managed to avoid suspicion the last times she had found him awake in the middle of the night by claiming his stomach was upset after eating too late at night. But she was a mom, she was bound to figure out the truth sooner or later. Kevin hadn't told her yet about his latest mutation and he wanted to keep it that way.
He decided his best course of action was to quietly sneak out of the house. He glanced over at the alarm clock on his bedside table. He groaned again when he realised it was only 2 am. He had only managed to sleep for about two hours. It was going to be a long night. As quietly as he could, he got out of bed. From his nightstand, he grabbed his keys, Plumbers badge and cellphone. Before leaving his room, he put his ID mask back on. He had taken it off while sleeping in order not to risk damaging it. He knew his mom wouldn't walk into his room without knocking first and Harvey was away for the week on a business trip, so there had been no risk in removing it to sleep. He didn't want them knowing he was a monster once again. Maybe he'd tell his mother eventually, but there never seemed to be a right moment to do so and he didn't want to disappoint her.
He peeked his head out of his bedroom door and looked towards his mom's bedroom. Her door was closed and her lights seemed to be off. The coast was clear. He crept through the house and exited through the front door, making sure to lock it behind him.
Luckily his car was parked in the driveway so he didn't have to worry about opening the garage door and making a lot of noise. As soon as he sat down and closed the car door behind him, he felt like he could breathe properly again. Some people would probably find this strange since he had, seconds ago, been outside in the fresh, cool air of the night. But his car was his safe space. A few hours driving around aimlessly was sure to cure him.
He turned his car on and pulled out of the driveway. He didn't want to be enveloped in silence, so he uncharacteristically turned the radio on. He wasn't sure what channel it was turned to since Gwen and Ben were usually the ones playing with the radio. He honestly didn't care what songs ended up playing, he just wanted to escape his thoughts.
Kevin wasn't quite sure where to go, he had had no clear plan when he left his house, he just wanted to drive. So he turned on to whichever streets seemed the emptiest and would bring him the farthest away from his own home.
He kept his eyes on the road and drummed his fingers along to the beat coming out from the stereo. He drove around aimlessly for a while. He felt calmer but he knew that if he returned home now, he would still be unable to sleep. He needed to exhaust himself so that as soon as he got in bed, he would fall asleep.
He took a right on the next possible street, trying to once again drown out his thoughts. However, he quickly realised that this wasn't a random street. Somehow, he had managed to turn on to Gwen's street.
His head was soon filled with thoughts of Gwen, like it usually was whenever she was around. She had that effect on him. He wondered to himself if she was awake, seeing her would surely calm him down. But then he remembered his situation. Glancing down at the clock on his dashboard, he realised it was now almost 2:30 am and that there was no chance that she was awake.
Still he continued on to the end of her street instead of turning around and driving away. He pulled up and parked in front of her driveway. To his surprise, the lights in her room were on. Why was she awake? He knew it was a school night and that she preferred to get as much sleep as she could to be able to perform well in class. She must be working on a project or studying he told himself.
He knew he probably shouldn't bother her if she was busy, but he couldn't help himself. He quickly pulled out his cellphone and texted her.
''Hey. Why are you awake?'' he wrote before returning his gaze to her bedroom window. It wasn't long before he received a reply.
''I could ask you the same thing,'' she had written. He chuckled at her answer. He was about to type a reply when he received another message from Gwen. ''Why are you spying on me?''
He looked up from his phone and noticed that Gwen was now standing at her bedroom window, staring down at him. He saw her grab her phone and type another message. Just as his phone received the incoming message, she disappeared out of view.
''Stay there, I'll come see you.'' The message read. He felt a twinge of guilt for bothering her, but it was quickly drowned out by the fact that he was going to see Gwen for a bit. Movement coming from the direction of her house pulled him out of his thoughts. The light was now off in her bedroom and Gwen was quietly slipping out of her house through the front door.
He noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes from earlier that day, meaning she hadn't taken the time to relax since he dropped her off after school. When she reached his car, she opened the passenger door and slipped inside, sitting down in her usual spot. She closed the door behind her before turning to face him. He immediately noticed dark circles around her eyes, she seemed exhausted.
''Hey,'' she said breathlessly, giving him a brief, warm smile. ''Is everything okay?'' she asked, slightly concerned.
How did she know? He had always prided himself on being cunning and secretive, but it seemed he would never be able to hide stuff from Gwen.
''Yeah,'' he tried lying to her. He wasn't in the mood to talk about his nightmares. ''I'm great, just thought I'd stop by and say hello,'' he joked.
''Really? In the middle of the night?'' she instantly replied, giving him the look that said she saw right through his bullshit.
''Really,'' he grinned back at her. He enjoyed the bantering that often ensued when they were alone. If he kept it up, he would be able to distract her long enough to avoid talking about what was bothering him. ''You never answered my question, you know. So shouldn't I be interrogating you first?''
''I'm working on an essay,'' she replied swiftly. It almost felt like a lie. Kevin was somewhat of a pro at lying, but he couldn't think of why she would be lying about doing homework. He decided not to confront her about it. ''What about you? Did you suddenly have an urge to help me with my homework?'' she said, pulling him out of his thoughts once again.
''Sure, if you want to fail,'' he joked but he saw the reaction his comment had caused. Gwen didn't like it when he made fun of himself, she was always quick to remind him that he wasn't dumb like people seemed to think he was. He needed to change the subject again and quickly. Self-deprecating jokes were not the route to take tonight. ''I wasn't tired so I decided to go out for a drive. Thought you'd like to join. Clearly you need saving from your essay.''
She hesitated before answering, reading his body language. She seemed to know something was wrong, but to his surprise, she seemed to let it go. ''Where are we going?'' she asked as she turned to put her seatbelt on.
''What about your folks? Won't they freak if they notice you're not in bed sleeping?'' Kevin knew her parents still didn't like him that much, he doubted they would suddenly start inviting him over for family dinners if they found out he had basically kidnapped her in the middle of the night.
''I'll deal with it if it comes to that. So, where are we going?'' she asked him again.
''Wherever you want,'' he replied, already pulling back on to the road.
''Surprise me,'' she told him, reaching to turn the volume of the radio up a bit. Kevin smiled as he drove off.
Kevin had driven them out of town, they were the only ones on the road at this hour. They drove mostly in silence, he liked it best that way. The only noise was that of the radio and Gwen's soft voice on the rare occasions that she sang along to some songs that she knew. Listening to her sing, he couldn't help but smile. She seemed happy and relaxed; and he was starting to feel the same way too.
These were his favorite moments, when it was just the two of them, no aliens to worry about, no Ben to bother them and no constant fear about hiding his freakish mutation. He wished he could stay in this moment forever, but after a while he noticed that Gwen kept yawning. He knew it was time to drive her back home. It was almost 4 in the morning already. To his surprise, he was also starting to feel a tad tired, maybe he would be able to get some sleep after all.
Gwen didn't protest when she noticed that he had started driving back towards her house. When Kevin eventually arrived in front of her home, he turned off his car, but kept the key in the ignition, he didn't want to alert Gwen's parents to his presence.
Gwen undid her seatbelt and turned to better face Kevin. ''Thanks for saving me from my essay,'' she told him, smiling at their joke from earlier that night.
''Anytime,'' Kevin answered, smiling back at her. ''Are you going to go and finish it or try and get some sleep?''
''Sleep, definitely,'' she replied, ironically fighting off a yawn. ''I probably won't get much done in my state.''
Kevin was glad that she was being smart about this, she definitely needed to sleep.
''What about you, are you feeling better?'' Gwen asked him. They hadn't talked about what really brought him to her house that night. Technically Gwen shouldn't even know something was bothering him. But she did and she cared about him. So, he decided not to lie this time.
''Yeah, I think I am,'' he told her sincerely. ''Thanks for coming with me.''
''Anytime,'' Gwen said, copying his response from earlier. She then leaned over and gently kissed him on the cheek. ''Goodnight Kevin.''
As she pulled away from his face, Kevin couldn't help but smile once again. ''Goodnight Gwen.''
She smiled back at him before turning to open the car door and step back into the cool early morning air. ''I'll see you after school?'' she asked him, already knowing the answer.
''Yeah, I'll pick you up, same time, same place.'' Kevin answered, turning the keys to start the car.
Before closing the car door, she leaned back down in order to see him properly when she spoke. ''Remind me to bring my iPod next time you pick me up for a late-night drive, my music selection is way better than what was on the radio.'' She flashed him a grin before shutting the car door and walking back to her house.
Kevin waited to make sure that she made it safely inside before driving off. With no traffic, it was a short drive home. This time, as he drove, the only thought occupying his head was that of how lucky he was to have met Gwen all those years ago.
Kevin's mother had heard her son leave the house in the middle of the night. She had actually been awoken minutes before by the sounds of Kevin screaming, obviously waking from a nightmare. She had wanted to go and check on him but stopped herself. She had noticed his recent struggle with sleeping and had tried to reach out to help him the previous times he had been awake in the middle of the night, but he kept pushing her away. At what point did she stop trying? Would Kevin eventually give in and confide in her or would he become angry and start pushing her away even more? Before she could make up her mind, her son had already left the house.
Regretting her hesitation, she decided to remain awake to talk to him when he would eventually return. Her son was obviously struggling with something and she would be there for him, whether he liked it or not.
At almost five in the morning, she heard the familiar sound of his car pulling into the driveway. She quickly got out of her bed to put on her bathrobe and slippers.
She heard Kevin walk into the house, even if he was trying to remain quiet, because he thought she was asleep. The lights were off in the house, so he had no reason to suspect she was awake.
She opened the door to her room as she heard his footsteps at the end of the hallway. Her eyes had long ago adjusted to the darkness but even so, she questioned what she saw. Kevin was smiling as he made his way to his bedroom. She wasn't expecting happiness to be radiating off of him when he returned.
As soon as he registered that her door was open, his smile faltered. ''Ma? Did I wake you? I'm sorry.''
''It's fine honey,'' she said honestly, but still hesitant about her son's good humour. ''Is everything okay, why are you awake?''
''I'm fine now, don't worry,'' he told her, his smile reappearing, but he looked incredibly tired. ''Trust me,'' Kevin tried reassuring her once again. ''I'm really tired though. I need to sleep, but can we talk in the morning?''
Sensing that he was sincere, she nodded in response. Kevin rarely took the initiative to ask if they could talk, she normally had to force information out of him. She was happy he was opening up to her, but she couldn't help but be nervous as to what he was going to tell her.
Kevin nodded a final time, checking everything was okay before walking to his own bedroom and closing the door.
She let out a sigh that she hadn't realised she had been holding in. Call it motherly instincts, but she was positive someone was to thank for Kevin's change of humour. She was determined to figure out who it was and invite them to dinner to thank them. Whoever they were, they had made her son smile again, even if for a bit, and she would be forever grateful.
Small context, when Kevin discovers that Gwen is awake in the middle of the night, he assumes she is stressing about homework as she normally does. What he doesn't realize is that she is trying to find a cure for Kevin. She hides it from him when he asks her what she was doing since she knows he's already bothered by something. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! Take care!